1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to utility location systems, and more particularly to an underground utility line location marker that indicates the location of utility lines, the direction of the utility installation and the type of utility installation.
2. Description of the Related Art
One problem plaguing the utility industry, the construction industry and others in related areas is how to locate buried utility installations. It is often necessary to locate underground utility facilities during new construction where an excavation is required, to avoid damage to the underground utility installation by the excavation equipment. Utility companies commit substantial resources simply to the location of utility lines to perform periodic maintenance. Many utility companies are generally willing to send a crew to the site in order to locate utility facilities. The same is true with regard to commercial excavation for construction projects. These programs are instigated in order to assure that lines are not damaged, service is not interrupted, and dangerous situations are avoided. Such programs, however, are expensive. Accordingly, efficiency in the location of utility facilities underground is of great interest.
Various methods have been devised to allow an individual to locate underground utility installations. One method is simply to locate a permanent monument or stake on the surface above a particular utility installation. While stakes and surface monuments have been found somewhat useful in locating the general location of underground utility lines, they are also extremely limited in the information that they typically provide. Also, such devices are often temporary and moveable, such that in subsequent excavations in the same area it is necessary to again have the utility crew determine the exact location of the facility. Conventional stakes often do not indicate the type of utility although it is often of great importance. For example, excavation over a gas line may be conducted differently than excavation over telephone lines.
There are administrative problems associated with the location of subsurface utilities since it is often necessary to first search utility or municipal records in order to obtain the approximate location of the utilities. If is then necessary to travel to the scene, locate appropriate monuments such as property line markers, and then to measure from the monuments in order to approximate the location of the utilities. Even after going through these steps, adequate information is often not provided It is very likely that direction of the line is only approximate and it may not even be possible to fully identify the types of utility buried, in that utility lines not found in the search could also traverse the area.
Those concerned with these and other problems recognize the need for an improved underground utility location marker.